I watched some amazing short films today. They told the kind of stories I can only hope to write, left me holding my breath and wishing  I had a camera crew and unlimited time to create something half as beautiful. The one that struck me most was about two people meeting under the most random of circumstances, each of them (and most of humanity on the East Coast) having only four hours left to live. It wasn’t your everyday premise, and more than that it was executed with more subtlety and humor than I can capture here. Another about food fighting for its very life in a refrigerator. Another about getting the gumption to speak to that crush, no matter how successful the universe is at trying to stop you. I love being exposed to all different types of talent; these experiences remind me that others accomplish, finish, that there is always a different way to tell the same story, a way to write lines that imprint on memory. Days like this inspire.

It didn’t hurt, of course, that it was the first day of spring. I walked this city — what felt like — top to bottom, first in the chilly morning and again in the height of afternoon. There’s a good bit of frenzy in its center, lots of protesters at the Capitol with every intent to defeat the health care bill, lots of increased police presence on every surrounding road as a result. Even if I don’t like what they’re saying, I like that people come here, that they’ve got passion and are willing to walk the pavement to make their point. On the way home I stopped for a soda and a warm soft pretzel, one with an extra sprinkling of salt. It’s something I love to do but hardly ever make time for, given that I’m generally in a rush from Points A to B, given that I’m almost never on foot without a deadline. But sunshine and people watching will do that to you, will remind you to take a good look around because there’s a story in most everything that’s going on around you, and too in many of those lives, not the least of which is yours.